Articles

College

BACKGROUND & HISTORY

Modern psychiatry in Hong Kong began in 1948, when a British-trained psychiatrist Dr. P M Yap was appointed medical superintendent of the mental hospital in Hong Kong. Prior to this it was the asylum-era dating from the opening of a temporary lunatic asylum in 1875 with merely custodial care for the mentally ill. Through Dr. Yap’s effort we began to have in the 1960s a comprehensive range of psychiatric facilities including the newly built Castle Peak Hospital and Yaumatei Psychiatric Centre as well as more psychiatric and allied health staff.

The Hong Kong Psychiatric Association was founded on 28 July 1967. The objectives were to promote psychiatry in Hong Kong and to foster relationship with national and international psychiatric organisations. At the start the size of the membership was no more than 30. Soon in April 1968, it became a member society of the World Psychiatric Association.

In the early days, the training of psychiatry was carried out by the Government Mental Health Service mostly through in-service training. Subsequently, the two university departments of Psychiatry joined in and together a coordinating committee was formed, which later became the Psychiatric Training Committee. By the mid-1980s, a two-year training programme was established locally, to be vetted and accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists .

Following the publication of the Report of the Working Party on Postgraduate Medical Education in 1988, a Preparatory Committee for the establishment of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine was formed, in which representatives from all specialties of medicine participated. The Hong Kong Psychiatric Association, by virtue of its unique status at the time, was represented in the Preparatory Committee and thus later became one of the constituent colleges of the Academy since its establishment by statue in 1993. In this way the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists was formed.

Since then, the College has been playing a key role in postgraduate psychiatric training, holding Fellowship Examination and conferring our own Fellows.

COLLEGE OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the College are:

To promote the study and advancement of the science and practice of psychiatry and ancillary sciences and branches of medicine;

To further public education therein;

To contribute to the improvement of mental health care for Hong Kong citizens through the provision of specially trained psychiatrists.

Mental illness has been a severe challenge to mankind since time immemorial. Throughout history, efforts from different sectors of human civilisation have engaged the challenge, with variable measures of successes and frustrations. In this effort the medical profession of psychiatry has been playing a core role, at the fore-front of clinical care, research, and training. In Hong Kong, the profession has been blessed with a rich heritage, strong networks, and many talents.

The Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists seeks to ensure that doctors who specialises in the treatment of mental disorders (psychiatrists) are well-trained and practises with a dedicated standard. It also furthers the societal roles of psychiatrists collectively, such as in promoting better understanding and lesser discriminations for mental disorders, and communicating about better care for mental disorders.

Mental disorders are very challenging conditions. In contrast to other illnesses, mental disorders strikes at brain systems that are at the very heart of human personhood: interpretations of the environment, decisions, personality, social relationships, subjective life experiences etc. could all be affected. Mental illnesses often extract costly consequences for the patient and the family. The nature of the illnesses can also make help-seeking and engagement extremely difficult.

To meet the challenges of mental disorders, high levels of skills and knowledge are required, and this comes only from long years of disciplined training and continuing efforts. The Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists provides the training framework and quality assurance for psychiatrists. It also provides for continuing education needs for the profession to keep abreast with ongoing developments.

Amongst all medical specialists, perhaps the psychiatrists is one that can least afford to simply busy himself in daily clinical routines to the exclusion of other developments. The astounding rate of progress in neuroscience and the complexity of the human brain demands a relentless pursue of knowledge in order to better understand and manage mental illnesses. The complexity of brain-environment interaction also requires the psychiatrist to be not only competent in brain sciences and pharmacology, but also be highly skilled at psychological and sociological understanding of patients experiences. In the College, professionals have a platform to mutual support and stimulation, not only locally, but with international sister bodies, towards this continual pursuit of excellence.